Re: The Highs and Lows of Dieting

Iíve been struggling lately to break through on the last several pounds I need to lose to fit into my main slacks and in the hope it will help my sleep apnea. I finally made a chart of everything I was eating. Iím quite happy eating the same stuff every day which means for fewer calculations and easier not to kid myself about substitutions or extra snacks. I was curious about whether I was getting the recommended amount of protein and where I stood on saturated fats and how that compared to total fats. (I donít really believe saturated fats are a problem but I thought Iíd take a peak at the numbers anyway.) I also calculated Weight Watcher points under the old and new systems (I'm a little higher than either recommends). Since my main focus is eating as healthily as I can I donít care if the weight loss is slow so long as itís happening. No unrefined carb or sugar products and almost nothing that could be considered processed food.

One of the mainstays of my meal plan is my morning oatmeal/walnuts/flaxseed meal/low carb milk. I use raisins for sweetness and found I really didnít need as many raisins, especially since I tend to cook the rolled oats a really long time (I like it very mushy), and the raisins may be releasing the sugar into the oatmeal making it appear to be sweeter than it would have if I added raisins at the end. I make it up the night before and bring it to work. Iíve found I can eat a little at a time and make it last until lunchtime, so I donít need much of a mid morning snack. Spreading the oatmeal out also keeps my blood sugar from spiking. (I'm not diabetic, but there is slight glucose intolerance and I want to keep blood sugar below certain levels.)

Weekends I tend towards a chicken salad sandwich on Ezekiel 4:9 bread. Turns out my avoidable weakness was the mayonnaise I was slopping on because it was too dry. Hubby suggested adding a squitch of water in the chicken salad to make it a little moister and thatís made a difference. So with a mayo-less sandwich and not as thick a chicken salad spread Iím finally able to lose a little on weekends after being really good during the week as well. As of this morning Iím nominally at my goal, and in a couple more pounds I might be able to comfortably button my slacks all day too. ;^)

OK, the main reason I wasn't losing weight was a long period of stress, especially at work, that had me hitting the vending machines. I do best when I have nothing less than a $20 bill with me and when I read really scary stuff about bad foods (like any of Gary Taubes books). After I took care of both of those and made the above adjustments, THAT's when the weight started to come off, LOL.

I don't know yet if it has helped the sleep apnea, specifically the snoring, but it's worth a try.

Re: The Highs and Lows of Dieting

Originally Posted by Debb70

Speaking of olive oil..........Great news! My cholesterol is 149! I've tried to get there for many years. The only way I made it is with Pravastin. And it hasn't caused me any nasty side effects. The bad news is that my doctor says my bad cholesterol is too high and she wants to up the dose. Oh well. I'm worried that upping the dose might cause side effects.

Congrats on the cholesterol. My doctor keeps me on a statin even though my cholesterol was only 122 last visit. Same with blood pressure meds (my blood pressure is fine). I guess it's standard treatment for diabetes, but I'd sure like to be off those drugs.

Re: The Highs and Lows of Dieting

Originally Posted by candor

My doctor keeps me on a statin even though my cholesterol was only 122 last visit. Same with blood pressure meds (my blood pressure is fine). I guess it's standard treatment for diabetes, but I'd sure like to be off those drugs.

So what does your doctor say in his opinion would take for you to get off of them, and does he really truly understand the risks of staying on or getting off? His present recommendation may be overly conservative and unclear about the diseases and side effects. You might be in a better position to know what you should do.

Re: The Highs and Lows of Dieting

My cholesterol was still high at my last doctor's visit, despite watching my diet, so my doctor put me on Lipitor. I was disappointed that it was still high because I was looking forward to my appointment and expecting all my lab results to be much improved. However, both of my parents have been on medicine for high cholesterol before so I guess heredity has something to do with it in my case. At least I can quit beating myself up about my high cholestorol and know it's not solely caused by bad dietary habits on my part.

I'm still going to watch how much cholesterol I eat, too, because I don't want to get into bad habits.

Re: The Highs and Lows of Dieting

Originally Posted by pikachu

My cholesterol was still high at my last doctor's visit, despite watching my diet

You've been an inspiration to us all on your diet! And if you needed to lose weight that's a plus in many ways. How are your triglycerides? I think those can be more important. And in women, HDL (the good cholesterol) is a much better risk indicator of heart disease than LDL.

My HDL and LDL both went up as of my last visit so total cholesterol went up too. Because I'm female that's particularly good news on HDL. And because triglycerides were far below normal (and blood sugar also at a very good level), I think the increase in LDL reflected more of the good (fluffy buoyant) LDL that I believe raises the LDL value simply by taking up a greater volume. Which would mean that the higher total cholesterol was also good news.

Genetics is a consideration but it's hard to know for sure that our parents had bad genes as opposed to not eating well enough themselves.

Re: The Highs and Lows of Dieting

I was given two numbers for my cholesterol. The nurse said the first number was 224 and it should be under 200. The other number was 160 and it should be under 99. I'm not sure if that second number is HDL, LDL, triglycerides or what.

My blood pressure was 123/75 and my blood glucose was 5.7. Back in February, my blood glucose level had been 6.7.

Re: The Highs and Lows of Dieting

I was given two numbers for my cholesterol. The nurse said the first number was 224 and it should be under 200.

That's probably total cholesterol.

The other number was 160 and it should be under 99

Since it should be less, that's probably LDL. My lab ranges for that have indicatedthe goal is to stay under 130. HDL presumably can be calculated as something slightly south of 68. My lab indicates it should be at least 40.

My blood pressure was 123/75

Two very good values

and my blood glucose was 5.7. Back in February, my blood glucose level had been 6.7.

If this was A1c, that's great improvement. 5.7 might be considered just a squidge above normal. If fasting blood glucose, I believe it converts to US values of 121 down to 103, which is still just a tad high for normal fasting. Either way, it's good improvement.

Re: The Highs and Lows of Dieting

My doctor's office didn't have me fast before getting bloodwork this time. I called ahead of time to make sure since they didn't tell me to fast when I made my appointment. I'm not sure the reason for the change but I'm glad I didn't have to fast!

Right now, I'm trying to ride out a plateau. I've been up and down within the same few pounds for about a month. I'm not in any hurry to lose the weight but still it's frustrating when you're doing everything right and the scale isn't budging. I have to be satisfied with knowing that at least I haven't gained a lot of weight back and I'm keeping up with my diet and exercise goals so as soon as my body is ready to start dropping the weight again, it can go to it.

Re: The Highs and Lows of Dieting

Originally Posted by pikachu

My doctor's office didn't have me fast before getting bloodwork this time. I called ahead of time to make sure since they didn't tell me to fast when I made my appointment. I'm not sure the reason for the change but I'm glad I didn't have to fast!

Then the blood sugar level was very good but you won't be able to compare it to any other values because there wasn't any control. On the other hand, it might be A1c which doesn't require fasting to be comparable from test to test. I always hit up my doctor (and vet) for a copy of the raw labwork. Less to lose in translation. Good luck with the continuing diet. You've been very good about it. I hope you have something to show for it again soon.